Safe.



` No. 662,429. Patented uw.u 27, |900'. l

Aplication led Nov` 14, 1898.\ (No Model.) 2` `Sheen-Sheet `2.

- ATTORNEY' UNITED STATES `PATENT Fries.

HENRY D. I-IIBBARD, OF NORTH PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THEHIBBARD-RODMAN-ELY SAFE COMPANY, OF HIGH BRIDGE, NEW

JERSEY, AND NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,429, dated November27, 1900.

Application filed November 14, 1898. Serial No. 696.394. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may Concern,.-

Be it known that I, HENRY D. HIBBARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at North Plainfield, Somerset county, in the State of NewJersey, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement inBurglar-Proof Safes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safes, and particu-4 2o sectional view takenin the line 3 3, Fig. 1,

looking from the rear. Fig. 4 is a front view of the door with theoperating mechanism in place for rotating such door into and out of itsclosed position. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View taken in line 5 5,Fig. 4. Figs.

6 and 7 are also vertical sectional views illustrating different formsof said door, Fig. 6 showing the door-body provided with a iiange at theinner side thereof, and Fig. 7 showing 3o the door-body provided with aiiange at the outer side thereof; and Figs. S and 9 illustrate on asmallscale a convenient means for manipulating the safe-body during the heattreatment thereof, Fig. S being a vertical section, and Fig. 9 a planview, of such body.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thedifferent figures of the drawings.

This improvement comprises in a general 4o Way an improved body having adoor Way or treasure from the attacks of the modern. burglar. Not onlyisthe highest quality of metal required, but also large bearing-surfacesare necessary at the joints to distribute the ef-I feet of charges ofhigh explosives fired against 5 5 the safe, While rabbets which might bereached by a liquid explosive after heavy charges have been fired on theexterior of the safe must be done away with. Moreover, in order tosecure the highest properties in the 6o metal used for the manufactureof safes it must be heat-treated. This necessitates that all partsthereof must be substantially uniform, or otherwise it will not beproperly affected by the heat treatment and is in danger of beingruptured by internal strains Vset up Within its mass. All of the abovefeatures must be secured Without the safe being unduly heavy or bulky. l

To secure the above advantages in a prac- 7o ticable manner is theobject of the present invention, and that this object has beensuccessfully accomplished is demonstrated by practicable tests Whichhave heretofore been made.

This improved safe is of that class which is known as integral -tl1atis, the body and door each consist of one piece of metal. In practicethe safe is preferably manufactured of the hard and ductile metalknownas man- 8o ganese steel -that is, the steel produced in accordance Withthe patented process of Hadfield-and which in order to possess the bestproperties for use in the manufacture of safes Where it is called uponto resist the drill and wedge and the effect of high explosives Inust bel1eat-treated,l by which I mean thatthe safe after being cast must beheated slowly to a high temperature-such, for instance, as that aboveredness-and then cooled-as, for 9o instance, rapidlyto give the metalcertain desired properties or to increase some of those which it alreadypossesses in some degree.

In the form thereof herein shown and described, and which may be itspreferred form, if desired, the safe comprises a body A, of any desiredshape, shown herein having side and rear walls-provided with a frontprojecting inwardly from such side walls, such front having a doorwayprovided with a door seat Ioo or jamb. This body is shown ofsubstantially uniform thickness, the front being provided at its outerand inner faces around the doorway with rings, beads, anges, orprojections A and A2, respectively, of metal, integral with the body,which rings of metal thereby increase in thickness that part of thefront which encircles the doorway, and thus provide an elongated seator` jamb for the door. By the term seat is" meant that portion of thebody door-opening which is in engagement with the door around its edge.By the provision of these rings of metal the safe front in the presentinstance has substantially ogee outer and inner faces, so that suchfront thus comprises a part of substantially uniform thickness with themajor portion of face of the front and rearwardly beyond the face ofsuch uniform part and into rior of the body.

By constructing the body in the manner specified all parts thereof aresubstantially uniform, since while the front is so constructed as toprovide an elongated joint-surface or jamb, yet the thickness ofthemetal transversely of such jamb is substantially no greater than thethickness of the body at other parts thereof.

The provision of a rearwardly-extending liange A2 around thedoor-opening forms a recess A3 intermediate said flange and the innerface of the side walls adjacentthereto, whereby the mass of metal aroundthe doorthe inte- Vopening is maintained substantially uniform with thethickness of the other portions of the body. The absence of this recessor an equivalent provision would result in the parts around the openingbeing too massive and so interfere with the proper heat treatment of thebody. Located in the seat, preferably remote from the outer side of thefront, is an annular offset ot.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the jamb or seat for the door isgiven relatively great length, which is an essential feature, and sincethe length of this jamb should be greater than the thickness of themetal in the rest of the body or in the body or main plate of the doorthis is obtained in a practicable manner by providing internal andexternal flanges,one diverging outwardly and the other rearwardly fromthe sides of the safe or from that part of the front which issubstantially uniform with the rest of the body. y

By the provision of the flanges not only is the seat or jamb of the doorelongated, but the body adjacent to such door is reinforced in apracticable manner other than by the provision of a mass of metal atthis point, the outer flange A2 particularly reinforcing the safe-bodyin such manner that the opening of thejoint between tbe body and thedoor is prevented by hammering or the eXplosion of heavy chargesadjacent thereto, since this flange acts under such attacks to permitthe metal thereof to yield radially, the radial line being that of leastresistance to the reluctant motion of the particles which are displacedvby the explosion, so that on an explosion or on the hammeringv at onepoint this fiange will yield outwardly without causing the joint orcrack to open each side of the point hammered. charge of explosivematerial be fired adjacent to the joint the result would be to cause aportion of the metal of the door and a portion of the metal of thebody-flange to yield together in the same direction, thereby preventingthe opening of the crack or joint of the door, since a metal-to-metaljoint or contact throughout this yielding action will be preserved. Thiswould not be the case, however, if such flange or bead were notprovided, since the mass of metal in the body proper around the doorwould be such that there could be no yielding thereof 'in any direction,so that the force of the explosive would act to cause the opening of thejoint either by cracking the metal when the charge is snflicient forthis purpose or in other ways, thereby to permit the insertion of acharge of nitroglycerin.

The door in the present instance comprises a body or plate B, providedwith a flange. In one form this iiange extends interiorly of the body.(See Fig. 6.) In another form it eX- tends exteriorly, (see Fig. 7,) andin still another form the ange B' and B2 extends both eXteriorly andinteriorly, (see Fig. 5,) whereby recesses are provided for thereception of the door actuating and locking mechanisms.

In the form shown in Fig. 6 the recess is adapted to receive suitablebolt mechanism,

(not shown,) the bolts of which extend radially through apertures formedin the flange, as set forth in my contemporaneously-pending application7Serial No. 679,976, filed May 7, 1898.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the body B is located substantiallycentrally of the depth of the flange, this form of door being espe-v thebolts, this being shown in my application above referred to, but is notnecessary in the present instance, since the door is of that class, asabove set forth, known as screwdoors. This groove in the body whenprovided will reduce the amount of metal at what otherwise would be atoo massive part. This same object, however, is accomplished in thepresent instance by the provision of In other words, should a` IOO IIO

the thread-spaces located in the rear of the offset. The threads coactwith similar threads formed on the iiange of the door in the rear of anoffset b, likewise formed in such flange to register with thejamb-offset a..

In practice the outer marginal face c of the door flange or body, as thecase may be, is iiush with the outer face c' of the flange or ring A2 ofthe safe-body, this preferably also being the case with the inner face dof the door flange or body and the rearwardly-extending flange or ring Aof such body front, and for this purpose the outer marginal face of suchdoor flange or body is preferably coned, whereby it will besubstantiallysquare with its peripheral edge, and consequently with thejoint of the door. By this construction it will be seen that the body ofthe door may be substantially of the same thickness as the body of thesafe, while the ange of the door constitutes a means of providing anelongated joint-surface or edge coacting with the elongated jamb orjointsurface of the body front, thereby forming at the point which is usuallysubjected to attack a joint of considerable length as compared withother portions of the safe without at the same time interfering with theproper heat treatment of the parts.

In practice the doorway or opening of the `bodyis made conical ortapering, beinglarger at the front, so that the door may be freelyinserted, while the door is made tapering and circular, thereby tofacilitate the required precisionizing of the seat-surfaces of the safebody and door. The long joint thus formed by the flange of the door andthe flanges of the body front present large surfaces of metal whichfavor the transmission of shocks from the door to the body, or viceversa, without damaging the met-al, while it also greatly aids toprevent the door being forced in on one side by the effect of a chargeof explosive fired near the edge. The o'sets cl and b coact to preventthe door from being forced inwardly at any point, while such offsetsbeing located relatively remote to the front of the door very muchreduce the chances of a burglar working nitroglycerin so far into thejoint as to reach them.

In the form shown the door is provided with suitable mechanism forrotating the same and which is shown located in the outer recessthereof. Into this recess is fitted a suitablecastingE,havingaforwardly-extending flange E', secured to the ange ofthe door by bolts or pins E2, which project sufficiently into the hardmetal of such door-flange to maintain the casting E firmly in position.The flange E is formed as an internal gear and is therefore providedwith an annular series of gearteeth E3, loosely mounted on a boss or hubE4. Integral with the castingis a face-plate F, retained in position bya suitable screw and washer. This plate is provided with ears E" for thereception of a pintle of a crane-hinge. (Not shown.) Projecting throughthis plate is a stub-shaft F2, carrying at its inner end a pinion F3 inengagement with the internal gear E3, whereby on the rotation of theshaft F2 by a suitable crank the rotation of the door, thereby to engageand disengage the same from the body, is effected.

The form of heat treatment which is used in practice for the metal fromwhich the present structure is manufactured consists in slowly heatingthe article after it is cast in a furnace to the desired temperature andthen withdrawing it and immersing it in Water or some other iiuid whichwill cool it faster than if allowed to cool in the open air in the usualway. To accomplish this= however, with any reasonable degree ofpracticability, the safe musthave, as hereinbefore specified,substantially uniform thickness and not be too inas sive, since if it istoo thick in any part it will not be properly affected by the heattreatment and is in danger of being ruptured by the internal strains setup within its mass. It has been found in working with manganese steel bycasting and subsequent heat treatment that an imperfect condition of theinterior exists if any of the parts are too thick. This imperfectcondition results in invisible internal cavities when the metal issectioned. It is not necessary to determine whether these are due toimperfect filling or strains in the shrinkage during the casting processor are due mainly and entirely to slow conduction and strains involvedin the slow heating or rapid coolingin the heat treatment.` It issufficient that they are present unless the parts are formed in suchmanner that they can be readily subjected to heat treatment, and thisnecessitates that the parts be not too massive, while at the same timethey must be sufficiently thick to withstand the attack of the burglar.This is obtained in the present safe by the use of a moderate thicknessof metal throughout, even at the iiange portions of the `body around thedoor, whereby the metal is homogeneous and in its highest integrity atall parts thereof. Y

The heat treatment hereinbefore mentioned can be readily carried out byplacing the safe-body and the door each separately in a furnace whilesuch furnace is cold and then igniting the. fuel and regulating thefurther supply thereof and the access of air to attain a gradual heatingup to a fairly bright red. This usually takes several hours, after whichthe'parts are removed from the fire and immersed in water. The handlingof the door will involve little difficulty. The safebody can besuspended by a chain and crane, the chain being attached to a narrowcrossbar D, `which may be introduced in. a vertical position, as shownin dotted lines, Fig. 8,

and then turned into a horizontal position on the interior, whereupon itwill engage the walls of the front, and so permit the safe to be swunginto position to be lowered over a body of water either fresh or brineor any preferable cooling liquid, or if this is not IOO IIO

IZO

practicable in all instances, owing to the possibility of the barbending the hot metal, other means may be used.

It is to be understood that the term safe as used herein and in theclaims includes a vault, strong room, or analogous structure and tliatthe term ring as used herein and in the claims is not limited to acircular` flange or projection, but includes within its scope whateverform of means will accomplish the object set forth herein, since aroundan oval or a square doorway this ring will conform to the shape of suchdoorway.

`By the term unmachinable as used herein is meant that the metal ofwhich the safe is built is of such a character that cutting or boringtools are of no practicable use in connection therewith and that theonly operations that are practicable are grinding ones;

vI claim as my invention--u l. An integral safe or vault doorhaving arecess extending over the major part thereof to form an annular flangeand a body, the latter of reduced thickness as compared with thethickness of the door at the outer edge thereof, said door having itsedge provided with an offset, and at one side of said offset with anelongated smooth joint-surface -eX- tending in an unbroken conditionfrom said oifset to the face of the door.

2. An integral safe or vault door having a recess extending over themajor part thereof to form an annular flange anda body, the latter ofreduced thickness as compared with the thickness of the door at theouter edge thereof, said door having its edge provided with an offset,and at one side of said offset with an elongated smooth joint-surfaceeX- tending in an unbroken condition from said offset to the face of thedoor, the outer marginal face of said door being substantially squarewith said smooth joint-surface.

8. An integral safe or vault door comprising a body having an annulariiange extending forwardly of said body and forming with such bodyanelongated joint-surface; a step or offset located at the periphery ofthe door; and threads-located at one side of said offset, said doorhaving a smooth elongated jointsurface ext-ending in an unbrokencondition from the outer face of said door to said threads or offset.

4. A safe-body made integral of metal of substantially uniform thicknessand provided with an outwardly-extending flange and arearwardly-extending liange, both around the dooropening and presentingan elongated j oint-surface,the rearwardly-extending flange forming atits rear a recess whereby the thickness of the mass of metal around saidopening will be substantially uniform with the other portions of thebody, substantially as described.

5. A safe or vault body having a doorway, a door adapted to tit therein,said body having around said doorway and in contact with the edge of thedoor a projection integral with a part of such body and in position andadapted to yield with the metal of the door at the edge thereof whensuch door metal is, under high-explosive charges, moved laterally orradially, thereby to continuously preserve a tight metal-to-metal jointor contact between said projection and the door edge, the organizationbeing such that said projection has a distinct line of demarcation atits juncturepoint with the body.

6. A safe or vault body having a doorway, a projection located aroundsaid doorway and having its inner face forminga door-seat, suchprojection terminating with the outer edge of such door-seat wherebysuch projection does not extend beyond the door-seat, said projectionhaving a distinct line of demarcation at its juncture-point with thesafe-body, and a door adapted to t into said seat in such manner thatthe metal of the projection will yield with the metal of the door at theedge thereof when the joint is subjected to the eect of high-explosivecharges.

7. A safe or vault comprising a body hav'- ing adoorway and providedaround such doorway with a projection integral with a part of said body,and a door having, when in its closed position, its outer marginal facesubstantially Hush with the contiguous outer face of such projection.

8. A safe or vault body having a doorway and provided around suchdoorway on the interior of the safe with a rearwardly-extending integralprojection or flange prolonging the door-seat to form an elongatedjoint-surface, the innermost face of said flange being free of juncturewith the sides of said body.

9. A safe or vault body having a doorway, the jamb thereof havingrelatively great depth obtained by providing such body with an integralrearwardly-extending projection located around such doorway on theinterior of such body with a space formed between such projection andthewalls of said body, wherebythe' thickness of the mass of metal arounddsaid doorway will be substantially uniform with the other portions ofthe body.

10. A safe or vault body having a doorway and provided around saiddoorway with an integral projection or flange extending beyond the bodyproper, the face of such liange being substantially square with thejambsurface.

11. A safe or vault body having a front provided with a doorway, suchfront having a ring or projection of metal integral therewith audlocated around said doorway and projecting beyond the normal surface ofsaid front and increasing the normal thickness of the front around thedoorway thereby to provide such doorway with an elongated jamb-surface,the outer surface of said ring being substantially square with said jamb-surface, and an offset or step located in said jamb-surface.

12.. Asafe-body having a doorway, and provided around suchv doorway witha ring or. projection of metal integral with a part of the body andprojecting forwardly beyond the normal face of said body and with a ringor projection of metal also integral with a part of the body andprojecting rearwardly into the interior of said body, said rings formingan elongated jamb.

13. A safe comprising an integral heattreated body of metalapproximately uniform in thickness and having inner and outer beads oriianges contiguous to the doorway, and forming an elongated jamb, and adoor having its edge of increased thickness and corresponding with thethickness of such jamb, thereby providing an elongated joint-surfacearound the door, said door having its outer marginal surface iiush withthe outer face of the exterior flange of the body, substantially asdescribed.

14. In a safe,the combination of an integral body of substantiallyuniform thickness having a doorway and provided around said doorway witha forwardly-extending increased portion or flange; and a door having,when in its closed position, its outer marginal face substantially.flush with the outer face of such liange.

15. A safe-body having a doorway, and pro vided around such doorway witha ring or projection of metal integral with the body, and projectingforwardly beyond the normal face of said body, and with a ring orprojection of metal also integral with the body, and projectingrearwardly into the interior of said body, said rings forming anelongated jamb, the outer surface of the outer ring or projection beingsubstantially square with the jambsurface, and the inner ring orprojection forming a space located between said ring and the side wallsof the body, whereby the thickness of the mass of metal around thedoorway will be decreased, while an elongated jamb-surface is obtained.

16. An integral safe-door comprising a body having a pair of annularflanges, one extending forwardly of said body and the other rearwardlythereof, and forming with said body at the periphery thereof anelongated jointsurface; a step or odset located at said periphery, andthreads located at one side of such odset, said door having a smoothelongated j oint-surface extending in an unbroken condition from theouter face of the door inwardly to said odset or threads.

17. A safe-body made integral of metal of uniform thickness and providedwith an outer ilangeand an inwardIy-extendi ng flange, both around thedoor-opening, and presenting an elongated joint-surface, the innerflange forming at its rear a recess A3, whereby the thickness or mass'of metal around said opening will be substantially uniform with theother portions of the body, in combination with a door having its outermarginal portion iiush with the outer flange, substantially asdescribed.

18. In a safe, an integral heat-treated door of metal, approximatelyuniform in thick-` ness and having a recess extending over the majorportion thereof, in combination with a body also integral ofheat-treated metal, the bearing-surfaces matching with a long andtapered joint, and both door and body being slightly coned externally tobe square with the joint and flush with each other, substantially asdescribed. Y

19. An integral safe-door comprising a body having an annular fiangeprojecting forwardly thereof and forming with such body an elongatedjoint-surface; a step or odset located at the periphery of the door, andthreads located at one' side of said odset, said door having a smoothelongated tapered surface at the other side of said odset and extendingin an unbroken condition from said offset to the outer face of the door.

20. An integral safe-door comprising a body having an annular fiangelprojecting forwardly thereof and forming with such body an elongatedjoint-surface, a step or odset located at the periphery of said door,threads located at one side of such offset; and means comprising gearmechanism located Within the recess formed by said forwardly-extendingflange for rotating said door.

2l. An integral safe-door comprising a body having an annular flangeprojecting forwardly thereof and forming with the door an elongatedjoint-surface, a step or offset located at the periphery of said door,threads located at one side of said offset, said door having a smoothelongated tapered surface at the other side of said odset and extendingin an unbroken condition from said offset to the outer face of the door;and means located in the recess formed by said iiange, and comprising aninternal gear and a pinion meshing therewith for rotating said door.

22. An integral safe-door comprisinga body having a pair of annularflanges, one extending forwardly of said body and the other rearwardlythereof, and forming with such body at the periphery thereof anelongated jointsurface, a step or offset located at said periphery, andthreads located at one side of such odset, said door having a smoothelongated tapered surface at the other side of such odset and extendingin an unbroken condition from said odset to the outer face of the door.

23. An integral safe-door comprisingabody having a pair of annularflanges, one extending forwardly of said body and the other rearwardlythereof, and forming with such body at the periphery thereof anelongated jointsurface, a step or offset located at said periphery,threads located at one side of such odset, said door having a smoothelongated tapered surface at the other side of such odset and extendingin an unbroken condition from said odset to the outer face of the door;and means located in the recess formed by said forwardly-extendingfiange for rotating said door.

24. An integral safe-door comprisinga body having a pair of annularflanges, one ext-end- IOO IIO

ing forwardly of said body and the other rearwardly thereof, and formingwith a part of such body at the periphery thereof an elongatedjoint-surface, a step or offset located at said periphery, threadslocated at one side of such offset, said door having a smooth elongatedtapered surface at the other side of such offset and extending in anunbroken condition from said offset to the outer facey of the door; andmeans comprising an internal gear and a pinion located in the recessformed by said forwardly-extending flange for 'rotating said door.

. 25. A safe or vault cast of the manganese steel herein specied andheat-treated substantially as herein set forth subsequent to saidcasting, thereby t0 render such metal tough, and comprising an integralbody havinga doorway and provided with an increased portion of metalaround such doorway forming a jamb of greater length in the direction ofits depth than the thickness'of the walls of the body thereby forming anelongated j amb, the organization of the body being such, however, thatWhile an increased portion of the metal is obtained around the doorwaythe metal of such body is nevertheless substantially uniform throughoutthereby to facilitate such heat treatment and an integral doorchannel-shaped in cross-section and having a joint-surface of greaterdepth than the thickness of the body of such door or of the walls of thesafe-body, the organization being such, however, that while the door hasan elongated joint-surface the thicknessxof such dooriis neverthelesssubstantially uniform throughout and with that of the safe-body therebyto facilitate the' heat treatment of said door.

26. An integral safe-body cast of steel and heat-treated subsequent tosuch Acasting by heating such cast safe-body up to a predeterminedtemperature and then cooling the same,4 substantially as herein setforth.v

27. An integral safe-body cast of the manganese steel herein specifiedand heat-treated subsequent to such casting by heating such castsafe-body up to a predetermined temperature and then cooling the saine,substantially as herein set forth.

2.8. .An integral safe-door cast of steel and heat-treated subsequent tosuch casting by heating such cast door up to a predetermined temperatureand then cooling the same, substantially as herein set forth.

29. An integral safe-doorcast of the manganese steel herein specifiedand heat-treated subsequent to such'casting by heating such cast door upto a predetermined temperature and then cooling the same, substantiallyas herein set forth.

l In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY D. HIBBARD.

Witnesses:

J. B. CLAUTICE, M. F. BoYLE.

